Sliding door, or the like, with floating rollers



Feb. 4, 1964 I E. J. ANDRES 3,120,033

SLIDING DOOR, OR THE LIKE, WITH FLOATING ROLLERS I Filed Jan. 16, 1962.FZra. 2Q 25 Ha. 4. E2651 l I 28 66 & 32 54 7 1 a. -M 54 34 z' 26- 70 32H-' 34 54 i Z 64 "44 44 52 INVENTOR. EDWARD J. ANDRES B) H/S ATTORNEYSHARE/S, K/ECH, Russsu. & KER/v United States Patent 3,126,633 SLEDINGDGOR, OR THE LIKE, WlTl-l FLOATING ROLLERS Edward .l. Andres, SantaMaria, Calii, assignor to Aluminite Manufacturing Co., Guadalupe,Qalili, a corporation of California Filed Jan. 16, 1962, Ser. No.166,611 4 Claims. (Cl. 2019) The present invention relates in general toan installation comprising a sliding panel structure movable in its ownplane relative to a stationary structure, the panel structure beingsupported by rollers or wheels engageable with and rol lable along atrack extending in the direction of movement of the panel structure.

The invention is applicable to such installations as sliding glassdoors, sliding screen doors, sliding windows, sliding window screens,sliding closet doors, and the like, the term sliding door being usedgenerically herein to include sliding panel structures of this generaltype. For convenience of disclosure, the invention will be consideredherein in connection with a sliding screen door, without, however,limiting the invention specifically there-to.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a sliding door equippedwith rollers or wheels which are engageable with and r-ollable along atrack extending in the direction of movement of the door, which arecapable of floating vertically relative to the door, and which arecontinuously biased relative to the door into engagement with the track.With this construction, the possibility of accidental disengagement ofone or more of the rollers from the track is minimized, even though, inthe course of opening or closing the door, forces are inadvertentlyapplied to the door tending to cock it relative to the track in avertical plane, and thus tending to disengage the rollers from thetrack. Also, in the event that the door is equipped with two or morerollers, the ability of each roller to float vertically insures that itwill remain in engagement with the track despite irregularities in thetrack.

Another object is to provide a sliding door construction, capable ofattaining the foregoing advantages and results, wherein the floatingrollers may nevertheless be readily engaged with and disengaged from thetrack in the course of installing and removing the door.

An extremely important object of the invention is to achieve theforegoing floating roller action, with its attendant advantages andresults, by providing the rollers with central holes larger than theaxles on which the rollers are mounted, so that the rollers can floatthrough a distance equal to the difierence between their inside diameterand the axle diameter. Thus, the invention achieves the desired floatingaction of the rollers in a manner which is very effective, but which isso simple that it reduces to an absolute minimum the manufacturing costsincident to obtaining the desired floating action.

Preferably, the track faces upwardly so that the rollers are biaseddownwardly into engagement therewith by the action of gravity.

However, another object of the invention is to provide a sliding doorinstallation having floating rollers of the foregoing nature wherein therollers are spring biased downwardly into engagement with the track tosupplement the downward biasing action of gravity.

An important object is to provide a spring biasing means for each rollerwhich includes simply a cantilevered spring connected at one end to theframe of the door and having its other end in engagement with the outerperiphery of the roller.

A further object is to provide a spring which is connected to the frameof the door in 'a cantilevered manner by simply threading one end of thespring through open- 3,12%,033 Patented Feb. 4, 1964 ings in the frame,thereby minimizing manufacturing and installation costs in connectionwith such spring.

A further object is to provide a spring for biasing each roller intoengagement with the track which comprises simply a length of spring wirestabilized by disposing the free end thereof in a circumferential groovein the outer periphery of the corresponding roller. This fur therminimizes manufacturing costs.

The foregoing objects, advantages, features and results of the presentinvention, together with various other objects, advantages, features andresults thereof which will be evident to those skilled in the slidingdoor art in the light of this disclosure, may be achieved with theexemplary embodiment of the invention described in detail hereinafterand illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating 'a sliding door installationwhich includes a sliding screen door embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, transverse vertical sectional Viewtaken as indicated by the arrowed line 2.-2. of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, longitudinal vertical sectional view taken asindicated by the arrowed line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view similar FIG. 3, but showing various parts in differentpositions; and

FIG. 5 is a View similar to FIG. 2, but illustrating the manner in whicha sliding door embodying the invention may be installed or removed.

Referring initially to FIG. 1 of the drawing, the numeral 10 designatesan exterior wall having an opening 12 therein which extends upwardlyfrom floor level to a point approaching ceiling level. Part of theopening 12 is occupied by a stationary panel structure 14- whichincludes a glass pane or panel 16. The remainder of the opening 12 isadapted to be closed by a sliding glass door 1-8 comprising a frame 2%containing a glass pane or panel 22.

The installation shown also includes a sliding screen door 24 whichincludes a frame 26 containing a panel 28 formed of woven wirescreening, or the like. The sliding screen door 24 is, of course,movable between an open position and a closed position wherein it closesthe portion of the opening 12 which is adapted to be closed by thesliding glass door '18.

The present invention may be embodied in either the sliding glass door18 or the sliding screen door 24, or both. For convenience ofdisclosure, the invention is considered hereinafter as embodied in thesliding screen door 24.

Turning to FIG. 2 of the drawing, the sliding screen door 24- is movablealong a horizontal, upwardly facing, lower track 30 in the particularconstruction illustrated. The lower track 30 is shown simply as a ribhaving an upper edge of semicircular cross section. The door 24 isprovided adjacent its lower edge with two or more horizontally spacedrollers or wheels 32, only one of which is visible in the drawing,engageable with and rollable along the lower track 30, each roller 32being provided with an external circumferential groove 34 complementaryto the lower track and receiving it therein. The manner in which eachroller 32 is mounted will be considered hereinafter.

The installation includes upper guide means 36 extending horizontally inthe direction of movement of the sliding screen door 24, and engagingthe upper edge of the frame 26, for guiding the upper edge of the dooras the rollers 32 move along the lower track 30. The guide means 36includes a horizontal, downwardly facing, upper track 38 which isparallel to the lower track 30 and which may be similar to the lowertrack. The upper :13 track 38 is shown as merely projecting downwardlyinto an upwardly facing, upper channel 40 which forms the upper edge ofthe frame 26. The upper track 33 extends only partially into the upperchannel 40 in normal operation of the sliding screen door 24, therebyproviding a vertical clearance permitting sufficient vertical movementof the sliding screen door to permit its installation and removal asshown in FIG. of the drawing and as described in more detailhereinafter.

The lower edge of the frame 26 of the sliding scree door 24 is shown asformed by a downwardly facing, lower channel 42 the sides 44 of whichare interconnected adjacent the lower edge of the lower channel by a web46. This web is cut away at each roller position to provide an enlargedopening 48 for the corresponding roller 32. The horizontal dimension ofeach opening 48 is considerably greater than the external diameter ofthe corresponding roller 32 to accommodate the floating connection ofthe roller to the lower channel 42, as will become apparent.

Spanning the space between the sides 44 of the lower channel 42, andlocated on the vertical center of the opening 48, is a bushing whichforms an axle 50 for the roller 32 and which is secured by a screw 52extending through one side 44 of the lower channel 4-2 and threaded intothe bushing. The axle 56 may be spool-like, as shown, or it may simplybe cylindrical, or it may have other shapes.

The roller 32 is annular and is provided with a central cylindrical hole54 having a diameter considerably greater than the correspondingexternal diameter of the axle 50, both the axle and the rollerpreferably being formed of a material having a low coefficient offriction, such as nylon Teflon, or the like.

As will be apparent, the foregoing construction permits the roller 32 tofloat vertically through a distance equal to the difference between thediameter of the hole 54 and the corresponding external diameter of theaxle 50. As an incidental matter, lateral floating of the roller 32 inthe direction of door movement is also possible, which explains therelatively large horizontal dimension of the opening 48.

With the construction shown, the roller 32 is biased downwardly intoengagement with the lower track by the action of gravity. The inventionprovides spring means 56 carried by the lower channel 42 of the frame 26and engag ng the roller 32 for biasing the roller downwardly intoengagement with the lower track 30 to supplement the action of gravitywhen necessary.

The spring means 56 is preferably simply a cantilevered length of springwire 58 connected to the web 46 of the lower channel 42 at one end andengaging the roller 32 at its free end. More particularly, the springwire 58 includes an intermediate arm 60 which extends downwardly througnthe opening 48 in the web 46 and engages one edge of such opening.Integral with the arm 60 of the spring wire 58 is a portion 62 whichabuts the lower surface of the web 46 adjacent the opening 48. Integralwith the portion 62 of the spring wire 58 is an upwardly extendingportion 64 which projects upwardly through a hole 66 in the web 48. Thespring wire 58 terminates in a downwardly extending end portion 63,integral with the portion 64-, which presses against the upper surfaceof the web 46 on the opposite side of the hole 66 from the opening 48.The spring wire 58 terminates in a free end portion 70, integral withthe arm 60, which is disposed in the external circumferential groove 34in the roller 32, and which presses the roller downwardly intoengagement with the lower track 30.

The foregoing construction for the spring means 56 provides a verysimple and inexpensive way of biasing the roller 32 downwardly intoengagement with the lower track 30. As will be apparent, the spring wire58 may be installed by threading the end portion 68 and the upwardlyextending portion 64 upwardly through the hole 66 in the web 46, andthen swinging the free end portion 7t? upwardly through the opening 48in the won 46 and placing it in the external circumferential groove 34in the roller 32 on the upper side of the roller, the spring wire beingsufficiently deformable to do this. Alternatively, the spring wire 58may be installed in its proper position first, and the roller 32 andaxle 5t) installed subsequently.

The foregoing construction completely eliminates any necessity for anyauxiliary securing means for the spring Wire 55, the spring wire beinganchored at one end by threading it through the opening 48 in the web 46and the hole 66 therein in the manner described, and being stabilized byvirtue of the positioning of the free end portion 70 thereof in theexternal circumferential groove 34 in the roller 32, which is animportant feature.

Considering the overall operation of the invention, it will be apparentthat the floating rollers 32 are constant- 1y biased into engagementwith the lower track 30 by gravity and by the spring means 56. The rangeof movement of the rollers 32 is such that they will remain inengagement with the lower track 39 even though the sliding screen door24 is cocked in a vertical plane inadvertently in the course of openingor closing it. For example, even if the sliding screen door 24 iselevated to the extreme position shown in FIG. 5, the floating rollers32 will remain in engagement with the lower track 30, unless themaintenance of such engagement is prevented in a manner to be described.Thus, any possibility of accidcntal disengagement of the rollers 32 fromthe lower track 36 is reduced to an absolute minimum, and with astructure which can be manufactured very inexpensively.

As shown in FIG. 5 of the drawing, when installing or removing thesliding screen door 24, it is merely necessary to displace the doorupwardly to the limit provided by the upper guide means 36, and to pressupwardly on the rollers 32, as by means of a screwdriver blade 72,sufficiently to permit engagement with or disengagement from the lowertrack 30. Assuming that the sliding screen door 24 is equipped with twoof the rollers 32, the installation or removal is preferably effected bycocking the sliding screen door so that only one of the rollers 32 isengaged with or disengaged from the lower track 36 at a time.

Although an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been disclosedherein for purposes of illustration, it will be understood that variouschanges, modifications and substitutions may be incorporated in suchembodiment Without departing from the spirit of the invention as definedby the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. In a sliding door installation, or the like, the combination of:

(a) a panel structure movable in its own plane and including a frame anda panel carried by said frame;

(1)) a track extending along one edge of said frame in the direction ofmovement of said panel structure in its own plane;

(c) an axle caried by said edge of said frame adjacent and orientedperpendicularly of said track;

(d) a roller rotatable on said axle and cngageable with and reliablealong said track;

(c) said roller being annular and having a central hole lar er than saidaxle and receiving said axle therein; (f) the difference between thediameter of said axle and the diameter of said central hole in saidroller providing for relative movement between said roller and saidframe in directions perpendicular to said axle to enable said roller totend to remain in engagement with said track even if said frame isdisplaced away from said track; and

(5:) spring means carried by said frame and engaging said roller forbiasing said roller into engagement with said track.

2. In a sliding door installation, or the like, the combination of:

(a) a panel structure movable in its own plane and including a frame anda panel carried by said frame;

(b) a track extending along one edge of said frame in the direction ofmovement of said panel structure in its own plane;

() an axle carried by said edge of said frame adjacent and orientedperpendicularly of said track;

(d) a roller rotatable on said axle and engageable with and rollablealong said track;

(:2) said roller being annular and having a central hole larger thansaid axle and receiving said axle therein;

( the difference between the diameter of said axle and the diameter ofsaid central hole in said roller providing for relative movement betweensaid roller and said frame in directions perpendicular to said axle toenable said roller to tend to remain in engagement with said track evenif said frame is displaced away from said track;

(g) spring means carried by said frame and engaging said roller forbiasing said roller into engagement with said track; and

(h) guide means engaging the opposite edge of said frame and extendingin said direction of movement of said panel structure in its own plane.

3. In a sliding door installation, or the like, the combination of:

(a) a vertical panel structure movable horizontally in its own plane andincluding a frame and a panel carried by said frame;

(b) an upwardly facing track extending horizontally along the lower edgeof said frame in the direction of movement of said panel structure inits own plane;

(0) an axle carried by the lower edge of said frame adjacent andoriented perpendicularly of said track;

(at) a roller rotatable on said axle and engageable with and rollablealong said track;

(:2) said roller being annular and having a central hole larger thansaid axle and receiving said axle therein;

(1) the difference between the diameter of said axle and the diameter ofsaid central hole in said roller providing for relative movement betweensaid roller and said frame in directions perpendicular to said axle toenable said roller to tend to remain in en gagement with said track evenif said frame is displaced away from said track;

(g) gravity biasing said roller downwardly into engagement with saidtrack; and

sense I G (/1) guide means engaging the upper edge of said frame andextending horizontally in said direction of movement of said panelstructure in its own plane. 4. In a sliding door installation, or thelike, the com- 5 bination of:

(a) a vertical panel structure movable horizontally in its own plane andincluding a frame and a panel carried by said frame;

(5) an upwardly facing track extending horizontally along the lower edgeof said frame in the direction of movement of said panel structure inits own plane;

(a) an axle carried by the lower edge of said frame adjacent andoriented perpendicularly of said track;

( d) a roller rotatable on said axle and engageable with and rollablealong said track;

(e) said roller being annular and having a central hole larger than saidaxle and receiving said axle therein;

(f) the difference between the diameter of said axle and the diameter ofsaid central hole in said roller providing for relative movement betweensaid roller and said frame in directions perpendicular to said axle toenable said roller to tend to remain in engagement with said track evenif said frame is dis placed away from said track;

(g) said roller having in its outer periphery a circumferential groovein which said track is receivable;

(h) spring means carried by said frame and engaging said roller forbiasing said roller downwardly into engagement with said track;

(i) said spring means including a cantilevered wire spring having oneend threaded through said frame and having its other end in saidcircumferential groove in and in engagement with said roller; and

(j) guide means engaging the upper edge of said frame and extendinghorizontally in said direction of movement of said panel structure inits own plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. IN A SLIDING DOOR INSTALLATION, OR THE LIKE, THE COMBINATION OF: (A)A PANEL STRUCTURE MOVABLE IN ITS OWN PLANE AND INCLUDING A FRAME AND APANEL CARRIED BY SAID FRAME; (B) A TRACK EXTENDING ALONG ONE EDGE OFSAID FRAME IN THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF SAID PANEL STRUCTURE ITS OWNPLANE; (C) AN AXLE CARRIED BY SAID EDGE OF SAID FRAME ADJACENT ANDORIENTED PERPENDICULARLY OF SAID TRACK; (D) A ROLLER ROTABLE ON SAIDAXLE AND ENGAGEABLE WITH AND ROLLABLE ALONG SAID TRACK; (E) SAID ROLLERBEING ANNULAR AND HAVING A CENTRAL HOLE LARGER THAN SAID AXLE ANDRECEIVING SAID AXLE THEREIN; (F) THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE DIAMETER OFSAID AXLE AND THE DIAMETER OF SAID CENTRAL HOLE IN SAID ROLLER PROVIDINGFOR RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN SAID ROLLER AND SAID FRAME IN DIRECTIONSPERPENDICULAR TO SAID AXLE TO ENABLE SAID ROLLER TO TEND TO REMAIN INENGAGEMENT WITH SAID TRACK EVEN IF SAID FRAME IS DISPLACED AWAY FROMSAID TRACK; AND (G) SPRING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID FRAME AND ENGAGING SAIDROLLER FOR BIASING SAID ROLLER INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID TRACK.